Expat Living with Autism

We are a nomadic family, and proud to be so.

As of now, we don’t have a permanent home and never have (meaning Daniel and I have never bought a home) because we don’t want to commit to one place.

I am very aware that there may be people who read our blog who won’t see the value of travel the way Daniel and I do. You may believe that we should move home to the US because of our children’s Autism.

With all due respect, we completely disagree, and I am very happy to tell you why.

First of all, we can’t shelter our children from change (even in the US), and it would be highly unhealthy to even attempt to do so.

Second, our children are very stable here in Jeddah; we are going on our seventh year here, with no immediate plans to leave, and our boys have (I believe I mentioned this before) an absolutely amazing (over the top, freaking AMAZING) team of Learning Support professionals who love them as their own and take care of them at school. Personalized care I’m certain we would never get in the states.

Third, Daniel and I live where we do and the way we do because we believe there is too much beauty and diversity in the world to not go out and experience it to the greatest extent possible.

And we want our boys to see this world. We want to give them the world.

We ask others to open their minds and include our boys in their lives, in spite of their disabilities, but it’s equally important for our boys to have open minds and be open to others’ differences, cultures, etc.

And for us, this expat lifestyle is the most authentic way to show them how different, and beautiful, we all are.

Our boys KNOW they are loved. No question there. And if we truly believed we were hurting them in any way shape or form by living where we do or how we do, we would adopt a different lifestyle.

But in our heart of hearts, as parents, we believe our children will be just fine. Even more than fine, hopefully.